<p>The high school that I am going to attend does not offer AP or IB, but does offer enhanced learning classes for intellectually gifted students. Would this look good in the eyes of the people on the admissions board of an Ivy League school? Would this qualify as most rigorous curriculum available?</p>
<p>The most rigorous curriculum available means whatever are the hardest classes at your high school. These sound like it. You might be at a slight disadvantage for standardized testing because it seems like many top schools crank out 700+ scores, but a school will never hold it against you if you didn’t have some opportunities in high school. They want to see that you made the most out of what you’ve been given :)</p>
<p>The questions you ask are corny. Not sure that’s the right word for it, but I’ll stick with it. </p>
<p>Just choose a school. Pick one with AP or IB, not some ******-socalledgiftedwasteoftaxpayermoney, where you can make lots of friends, go steady with a nice boy or gal, have fun, actually learn something, and graduate not feeling burnt out. </p>
<p>Even if it’s not an Ivy League school, you’ll go somewhere great eventually. And if you’re really, really, really, set on going to a real super awesome feeder school, apply to Phillips Andover or Exeter. You’re practically guaranteed into the Ivy League.</p>
<p>Also, one thread would have been enough, you don’t need to ask the same question five (or more) times in a few days.</p>
<p>Just to correct Gryffon a little – Andover or Exeter does NOT “practically guarantee” their students a Ivy League college. They are great schools, that DO practically guarantee their students a great education. But the majority of their students don’t go to Ivy League colleges. Furthermore, even though it’s true that MORE of their students than practically anywhere else go to Ivy League colleges, some of that is no doubt due to the wealth, legacy status, sports skills, and other personal qualities of the students, not to anything the schools give them.</p>
<p>I hate to feed your obsession, but there is one thing you may want to think about. My kids’ public high school had a decently extensive program for “gifted” students, including special core classes in 9th grade (that were really good) and special electives available thereafter, most of which were also really good. However, the school did not consider that any of those classes were more challenging or difficult than any other classes (even though many of them were). If all someone had taken were a bunch of those classes, and not any AP or IB classes, they would NOT have been considered to have taken the most challenging curriculum. And, in fact, a lot of the post-9th grade classes were set up for kids who were intellectually gifted but not necessarily great students. The kids with ambitions like yours were able to figure out which classes they had to take to have a “most challenging” curriculum without any trouble. And it didn’t matter at all what classes they took in 9th grade – course selection that year was irrelevant, at least in their school.</p>
<p>corny? and thanks for the replies…I’m a little new to this website [I just finished grade seven, and this is the first week I’ve been on it], so sorry for the multiple posts.</p>
<p>Hi there. When Gryffon5147 says “corny,” he’s just saying that going to a high school specifically so you can go to an Ivy League school is not the best thing to do. You should go to a specific high school because you will enjoy it there, while at the same time challenging yourself with new classes and a rigorous curriculum. And going to even the number one high school in the country wouldn’t guarantee admission.</p>
<p>Go to whatever school you feel more comfortable with 
And don’t worry too much about colleges yet; you’ve only just finished seventh grade! However, it is true that Ivies and other top schools expect you to take the most rigorous courses available to you, such as APs/IBs. But keep in mind that your courseload is just one drop in the bucket; many other factors are considered, such as your grades, GPA, SAT/ACT tests, SAT II tests, extracurriculars, volunteer service, and ambitious endeavors that make you stand out as a dedicated student. </p>
<p>So go to whichever school you like better. Just be sure that whichever school you decide to go to, you take the most rigorous courses available at that particular school. At the same time, don’t stress yourself lolz and participate in things you love to do! Best of luck!</p>
<p>seventh grader on the Harvard forum on CC…what has the world come to?</p>
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<p>Hey Middleschool8, I like it! There’s nothing like having an idea of where you want to go before you head out on a quest. But it’s not necessary to attend a “special” HS to get into Harvard. They’re very interested in finding talent that has not been exposed to privileged environments. I have two daughters there who both went to a rural county HS with limited resources. I think that the extent to which they went to supplement what their HS offered (largely built around joint-enrollment courses at a local university) may have been a stronger asset on their applications than attending an elite HS would.</p>
<p>You can self-study for AP.</p>
<p>Harvard will certainly take into account what you have achieved in the context of your environment. Although attending certain secondary schools may provide a distinct advantage, attending less-than-spectacular schools does not necessarily need to serve as an impediment. I am a current student and of the three high schools that I attended, the first two were fairly lackluster and relatively devoid of a variety of academic opportunities, but I simply chose to enroll in the most rigorous curriculum available.</p>
<p>…OP, if you can’t really do much about what high school you go to, then just take the most challenging classes there. It’s fairly simple, actually.</p>